On Friday, January 31, 1997 at 3:00:00 AM UTC-5, D.S. Fenstermacher wrote:
Lately I have been hearing the local police respond with the term QSL. It
appears that the response is just another way of answering in the
affirmative. But what does it mean?

Scott

Many years ago I was a Corrections Officer with Dade County Florida. The Dade county Public Safety Department uses the Q code and not the 10 code as almost all other police agencies do. As far as I know Dade County is the only police Department that uses the Q code which comes from HAM radio operators. It makes it tough for the Florida Highway Patrol. They have to know both and switch back and forth.

"As far as I know Dade County is the only police Department that uses the Q code which comes from HAM radio operators."

Yes, ham operators use Q codes. No, Q codes do not come from ham radio. The Q codes were devised to allow European land-line telegraphers who did not necessarily speak the same language to communicate procedural matters, such as "Do you accept these charges?", "Yes, I accept these charges." They were defined by the International Telegraph Union.

When radiotelegraphy was invented, the same codes were used for the same purposes, as well as newly devised codes pertaining only to radio. "Shall I decrease transmitter power?", "Yes, decrease transmitter power."

Once amateur radio became established, Q codes were used in part for the same purposes as in commercial radio and wired telegraphy, in part to appear professional.